Will Brown's budget initiative doom local tax efforts? Transportation, school funding could be on November ballot

Asking voters to open up their pocketbooks in tough financial times is always a risky proposition, more so when voters are asked multiple times on the same ballot. Fed up voters may just plug their ears and reject them all.

That's one reason why Gov. Jerry Brown is making shooting down competing measures part of a full-court press for his $7 billion tax proposal. But another casualty of the governor's initiative could be that local measures - including two nascent transportation tax ideas - could have a much tougher road to win favor on Election Day.

"I think we were anticipating going next year anyway," Santa Cruz County Public Works Director John Presleigh said, later adding: "It could hurt us next year just as much as this year."

The county is looking for some way to fix its roads, with a consultant recently reporting that many of them, especially in the rural areas, are in woeful disrepair. The county's Regional Transportation Commission also has talked about new ways to pay for road projects.

But if those ideas end up on the November ballot, they will be going up against a governor's pitch that may just overshadow all. Furthermore, Brown won't be the only one vying for voter attention.

Since May of last year, the state Attorney General's office has approved 77 initiatives for circulation, most of which won't make it to the ballot. That's not unusual - after 1912, when just three initiatives were on the ballot, dozens of initiatives are floated during election years.

County Treasurer Fred Keeley is among the leadership of California Forward, a group that successfully pushed prior initiatives and is pursuing another that would change how California handles its budget. He said by the time November rolls around voters could be ready to more carefully weigh competing measures after getting a break from a series of special elections that decorated California's political calender in recent years.

"They're getting a reprieve," Keeley said.

But voters are different when it comes to money, Keeley said.

"That's why (Brown) is negotiating with everyone to get off the ballot," Keeley said.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The governor's initiative is aimed at benefiting education and public safety. It includes income tax increases on wealthier Californians and restores some sales taxes that expired last year. In any case, all new taxes disappear after five years.

The county also considering a local sales tax, and could soon hire a polling firm to assess the chances it would garner the two-thirds vote needed to pass. They are also weighing alternatives such as a utility tax.

Presleigh said if it ever does come to a vote, the county would have to sell the public that the money would only go to roads, detailing exactly how and when the money would be spent.

"What year, what we're going to do, and how we're going to do it," Presleigh said.

The county's Regional Transportation Commission is also looking at a source of new transportation funding, which also could going toward local roads. The agency is looking for a pollster to gauge its chances of passing a local tax, which could end up being a $10 surcharge on vehicle registrations.

Executive director George Dondero said the agency is aiming for a November vote, regardless of the governor's proposal.

"That's something we'll have to deal with," Dondero said. "First we'll have to see if there's any (voter) interest whatsoever."

Both the RTC and the county are struggling with rising road construction costs and flat revenues, especially from the state's gas tax, which hasn't been raised in 20 years. And if gas mileages continue to improve and drivers spend less filling the tank, the revenue problem will worsen.

Those may not be the only local revenue votes, either. The Pajaro Valley Unified School District, for example, could put a multimillion-dollar bond before voters in November, though no decision has been made.

NEGOTIATIONS

Brown also seems to know the dangers of a crowded ballot. He and other Democratic leaders have recently been trying to clear the decks in Sacramento by arguing against alternative tax-raising initiatives.

Those include a steeper "millionaire's tax," with supporters hanging a banner over Highway 1 in Santa Cruz County during the Monday morning commute. Brown recently won a key endorsement when the California Teachers Association decided to back his proposal rather than another initiative.

The governor also convinced the California State Association of Counties to drop an initiative effort guaranteeing local funding for a realignment of public safety services that began last year.

CSAC spokeswoman Erin Treadwell said the governor's proposal includes the guarantees sought by CSAC, and Brown made a personal appeal to drop it by speaking directly to the group's board last month.

"The decision was not to pursue our own (initiative), and we will probably be taking up at the next board meeting (on Feb. 23) whether to endorse the governor's," Treadwell said.